When Tara Met Blog: November 2010

LA Times Art of Entertaining Tips

Recently, I attended LA Times Magazine's Art of Entertaining event designed for Angelenos passionate about entertaining at home.

The event was held at a vacant $17 million dollar home up in the Hollywood hills that is currently for sale. We bought it of course and look forward to entertaining there soon *sigh* ... and now back to reality. During the interactive sessions from party planner Yifat Oren and floral designer Eric Buterbaugh, I learned the following tips on how to plan for home entertaining:

When possible send paper invitations and not use Evite. Personally, this made my eyebrows rise, which they often do, because I haven't sent a paper invitation since my 10-year-old birthday party and even then I hand carried them to school. However, Yifat must have seen the digital skeptics in the crowd and relented by saying that if you must send out digital invites, then at least make them personal with a designed graphic, photo, something easy, but more personal. I was content with this suggestion and am definitely going to try that next time.

For the first half hour of a party try and stay by the front door to greet your guests and then introduce them to someone they might know or would like to get to know. Check!

To free yourself up, hire bartenders or a wait staff and if you can, have it catered. Raphael hates when I get tied up by the bar making my popular signature martinis and champagne cocktails and he keeps saying that for our next big party we'll hire a bartender, but I enjoy it. This brings me to my next point...

Do try making a few signature cocktails and have a menu listing them out. I always have two sig cocktails, but I haven't done an official tabletop menu, so will also have to try that next time.

Serve bite size food so that it's easy for your guest to pop a bite and still continue mingling and not worry about balancing napkins, forks, etc. Also, avoid things like parsley that might get stuck in people's teeth.

Always provide information about parking. Don't leave it up to your guest to figure out or research on their own. Have these details in your invite along with directions.

As a guest, you should always bring something, even when the host declines. However, don't bring flowers. This really made my eyebrows rise, as I love getting flowers, but apparently it might not fit with the party theme or current decor and also forces the host to have to go and take care of them immediately by finding a vase and putting them in water. I guess I can see her point, but personally I'd still welcome the flowers.

Lastly, they suggested not sitting couples together since they are always together anyway.

Launching the TRON Pop-Up Shop

The second event that I was busy working on last week--besides the Minne Muse launch at Forever 21--was opening the TRON Pop-Up Shop at Royal/T in Culver City. The six week-long retail destination offers one-of-a-kind, limited-edition TRON merchandise in a really tricked out, futuristic TRON space. Everything from toys and t-shirts to $795 high heeled couture shoe (here).

We launched with a private evening party at the store with some of the cast from the upcoming film, TRON: Legacy and it's filmmakers joined by other celebrities and Disney executives. A bunch of fans were gathered outside too with posters and signs. It was a cold night and they were out there the entire time, I couldn't believe it.

Below is a photo from the white carpet that I was managing of the beautiful actress Olivia Wilde who plays Quorra in TRON: Legacy and also stars in House.

I was especially excited to see actor James Frain as well since I'm a fan of this brooding British actor from The Tudors, True Blood and the film Where the Heart Is.

For a more inside look, here is my colleague's flipcam footage from the night:

Also, here is a photo of my colleagues and I on the white carpet too :)

If you live in the area, the shop will be open from now until Dec. 23, so do stop by and see it for yourself!

This is How Bijan Rolls

Rolls Royce that is. World-renowned menswear and fragrance designer Bijan Pakzad (better known as just Bijan, like just Cher or just Jack) announced the launch of a new collaboration with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. They celebrated their teaming up at an ultra-exclusive event amongst a who’s who and I at Bijan’s Rodeo Drive Boutique in Beverly Hills. The party took place just in time for the opening of the Los Angeles Auto Show from today to Nov. 28 in downtown LA.

Bijan, a Rolls-Royce owner for many years, designed the limited edition line of cars that are set to be delivered in Spring 2011. Only 30 cars, which they call "drivable art," will be made in total. Along the same theme as Bijan’s store, which is by appointment only and is regarded as the most expensive store in the world, the highly bespoked Rolls-Royce models with Bijan’s design are only available to some of the world’s most powerful people in the world. It’s understandable, as the Bijan Edition is available for $1 million - not your run-of-the-mill purchase.

Even though there will only be a few of them, they should be easy enough to spot as they are bright "Bijan yellow," with yellow leather interior. Bijan says his favorite color is yellow because, well, he just likes yellow and that he chose yellow because it is unique and classy. A mega-rich, powerful friend from Mexico recently requested one from Bijan for himself and his wife. Bijan said he could have one, but not two, “only one per country,” he said. Maybe next time.

Disney's Minnie Muse Launch at Forever 21

I've been busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest, orchestrating the PR and celeb talent for two events just two days apart. The first event, happened last night to launch “Minnie Muse,” a new fashion line of apparel and accessories for young, fashionable women at all Forever 21 stores. All items are under $30 too. To launch the collection, we held an exclusive party at the Forever 21 store at Hollywood & Highland with 300 of their top Los Angeles-area customers lined up to get in.

The party featured treats from Molly's popular Sweets Truck (loved her chocolate raspberry brownies), girl power music playing, live drawings from a Disney artist, models wearing the new clothes and 10% off all Minnie Muse related purchases (I bought three items!).

In the VIP room I was busy facilitating photos and interviews with our celebrity guests that included Bella Thorne and Zendaya Coleman from Disney Channel’s new series Shake It Up, Debby Ryan from Disney Channel’s Suite Life on Deck, reality stars Vanessa Simmons (Run’s House, Daddy’s Girls), Kyle Richards and daughters (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), Stephanie Pratt (The Hills) J. Alexander also known as Miss J (America’s Next Top Model) and Shay Mitchell (Pretty Little Liars) among others.

The young girls from Shake it Up were adorable and so pretty and tall for just 13-years-old (taller than me now). Here's a pic of Zendaya and I in Minnie ears (also seen on DisneyDreaming.com, lol!) and one of her co-star Bella Thorne shopping.

I also enjoyed chatting with another Disney star Debby Ryan, especially since I had just seen her TV movie 16 Wishes. Overall, everyone seemed to love the new clothes and some items sold out that night even. Stephanie Pratt also left the VIP area to do some shopping too, which was pretty cool. The crowd seemed most excited for Miss J though as they squealed when he walked in, lol. I don't watch America's Next Top Model, so it went over my head, but he was definitely full of personality and nice to speak with. I loved that he came already wearing a Mickey tee too.

Decorating Cards for the Troops

Last year, my friends and I had fun with a holiday Sharpie decorating party.

This year, we put our Sharpies to good use. After hearing about Operation Gratitude at this year’s Women’s Conference, I went online to see how I could help too. It turns out the program needs hand written and personalized letters to the troops. So, we got together at my place over some champagne and music to write and decorate a few cards. What better way to be gear up for Thanksgiving by giving thanks?

Take at look at this inspiring video about the woman founder and the program:

Here are just some of the 30 pretty cards that we created. I wonder who did the Mickey one?

Tasting at Cecconi’s in WeHo

Last week, I went to an amazing blogger tasting at Cecconi’s Italian restaurant in West Hollywood. The restaurant opened last year and has been quite popular since. I was there on a Tuesday night and the place was packed even at 10 p.m. when I left. Jackie Collins was also among the evening’s patrons seated in the outside patio.

For drinks, I tried their Bellini and was wow'd by their Pumpkin Margarita, which tasted just like pumpkin pie with cinnamon.

Our meal was cooked by Chef Andrea Cavaliere and started off with a flatbread with real pieces of truffles on them (not just truffle oil). In fact, when we commented on this they then brought out their truffles to show us. They claimed that their restaurant gets the first choice of truffles in Los Angeles!

We then got to feast on their daily specials (yes, it was a tough job, but someones got to do it):

Monday – Lasagna Night
Tuesday – Porchetta Night
Wednesday – Lamb Night
Thursday – Dover Sole Night
Friday – Lobster Night (although we had Stone Crab and Lobster Ravioli)
Saturday – Bistecca Fiorentina Night

Have you been yet? Which day would you go?

Soleil Moon Frye Chats about Natual Skincare

Recently, I spoke with the natural skincare brand Weleda and celeb spokesperson Soleil Moon Frye while on their Honestly Natural, Truly Beautiful Tour. For one of their stops, Weleda’s biodiesel truck was parked at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood and offering free samples and massages to tourists and passerbys to help spread the message that all-natural skincare products are good for the body, mind, spirit and good for the earth.

While there, I spoke with Hamish Cook, Weleda’s Director of Marketing and learned that all the ingredients in their products come from their own Biodynamic® farms in Germany and Austria and are never grown with any pesticides or chemicals. I was also horrified to learn that Europe now bans more than 1,100 chemicals from personal care because they may cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm. Yet, just 10 of those ingredients are banned from cosmetics in the U.S.!!

It was a particularly hot day that afternoon, but I was able to have a fun chat with Soleil, best known for her roles on Punky Brewster and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She was wearing a festive bright pink blouse, but was wearing some really high heels that made the petite actress much taller than me. In our conversations she shared with me about being a mother, a vegetarian and her use of natural products. Here's a video of my interview with her:

Cupcake Camp LA Giveaway

CupcakeCamp is coming to Los Angeles on November 20th, 2010 at The Music Box Theatre in Hollywood! Produced by Los Angeles-based BakeSpace.com, the one-day event is open to cupcake lovers of all ages. There will be two cupcake tasting sessions: one beginning at noon and ending at 2:00 p.m., the other beginning at 3:00 p.m. and ending at 5:00 p.m.

Discounted Tickets:
Ticket price is $15 for general admission ($25 at the door). VIP Tickets are available for $30 (no waiting in line) and kids 5 and under are $5. However, because When Tara Met Blog is a media sponsor of Cupcake Camp LA and you're a reader of my blog, I'm offering a 20% discount code if you use “TARA” or the following link http://cupcakecampla.eventbrite.com/?discount=TARA, which will already have the discounted ticket prices listed. This code is only available till November 13, so go ahead and reserve your discounted ticket ASAP. Proceeds from Cupcake Camp L.A. will benefit local nonprofit organizations.

Win Two Tickets Giveaway:
I'm also giving away two tickets to the event to one lucky reader. To enter, just leave a comment here expressing your interest in attending. Please don't forget to leave your email address in the body of your comment or link back to a blogger profile or website that actually has your email address on it. For extra entries tweet this giveaway and post a new entry with a link to your tweet or saying you tweeted. Ends Friday, Nov. 12. Good luck!

Don't let the bedbugs bite!

I travel a lot for work and play, which means staying in a lot of hotels and in different cities including Manhattan, which has been the focal point in the news for having bed bug infestations. During the summer I even got a weird rash on my leg, that I couldn't pin point to anything in particular, which also got me freaked out.

The recent surge of bedbug reports has many travelers on edge too, but these creatures are not invisible and Hotels.com spokesperson Nicole Hockin, author of the Travel Smart Blog, has shared her tips for finding bedbugs, what to do if they are in your room, and how to make sure you don’t bring any home.

A few of Nicole’s tips include:

Place luggage on a desk or folding rack that is exposed to light. Bedbugs don’t like the light so they hide in dark areas.
Examine sheets and mattresses for blood spots, white eggs, and the bugs themselves.
Check hotels’ guest reviews, like the ones on Hotels.com, to see if recent visitors have had any problems.
Bedbugs die in extreme heat. Upon arriving home, head straight to your laundry room. Wash all your clothes in hot water and dry them on maximum heat to kill any unwanted hitchhikers.

For Nicole’s complete article, please click here.